i wanted some help with what to do next on my vsd's as i feel like there lacking something. the one in the middle is a darker color meant to be the flagship. Always open too new painting techniques or ideas.

here is a photograph of the ships

I think they look superb. If you insist on adding anything, then I would say tiny window glows could be a nice touch.

They are pretty sweet as is mate! Some suggestions though would be to rust up some key areas, to add some king of light effects, or to add a few subtle markings or an Imp logo. The latter I would mask off or use a template, and heavily dry-brush the paint on rather than just paint it, then dirty it up a little. Just a few ideas for you. Post some pics of whatever you decide to do.

Thx i think ill add some glows and rust as well and mabye a logo on the cap ship. What color for the logo? And what color for the window glows?

You've got a pair of right good looking destroyers there, mate Honestly, it depends how subtle you want them or not.

I'll add a comparison to one VSD that I'm working up right now.

For the record, I over dramatize a few aspects and fully intend shading the grey back up a bit and the white down But in generally, it's not that different at all. The key to it is exactly what others have said: the markings and the light.

Now, you can add some focal points for 'long distance viewing' IE more dramatic effect, by picking out further high points and adding some lighter grey as a form of edge highlighting. The main points being here.

But in truth, the big point is markings. Now, I've done black, red, and white (okay, light grey) and I find the white work nicely but the red and deep grey are pleasant too. Now, you don't need to do markings but you can, and with a bit of masking tape, you can do it with either a spray can, or some brush work (as long as you make sure to flatten and stick the edges of the tape so nothing bleeds!)

The other recommendation is, of course, the lights. And this may be where you can easily pick out your flagship from the other two. Perhaps you like red/yellow lights! Or do you want white/blue? You can take a colour like pure white or bright yellow, and thin it juuuust a tough. From there, use a fine brush to 'dot' some of the superstructure on the front of the ship. Be careful, be patient, it can take a very long time. After that, add a light wash (ink/candy coat) of red or blue to the previous colours. It tones them down and adds a simple glow effect without too much hassle. If you're really comfortable with your brush control, redot some of the larger structures to add stronger lights. Then you tend to get effects like these.

i added some glows and rust is it too much?

now that ive seen ur edge highlighting i quite like that. do you think white is too strong for an edge highlight?

IMHO, these are some pretty expert looking paint jobs!

Only thing wrong is they're VSD's instead of ISD's

I'm really loving the weathered look, keep 'em coming!

i added some edge highlights

Haha i want to paint an isd so bad now

That rusty beast is looking absolutely awesome. Would they I could pull something like that.

Those highlights on the extreme edges really are the cherry-on-top, looking good Zach. Maybe you better go paint an ISD

I personally prefer the general appearance of basecoats + washing + drybrushing + highlighting + secondary wash + highlighting so I don't have much input here. The process is quickk, reltively painless, and can be done multiple times in a day, maybe two if it's humid (I live in Florida). From WH40k experience, get a decent enough paint job on everything, then go back and pick out key units. Eventually, as you revisit your collection, you'll gradually raise the entire thing up to a quality standard without getting bogged down on every single unit.

Those look great! I've only read the first post, maybe two. I'd say just add markings to differentiate the ships. Stripes, symbols, names, etc. You don't need any more weathering, they look old enough. IF you were to do some weathering, paint a panel in the base color to make it look new, then "blacken" the surrounding panels to make it appear that the panel(s) was just replaced after taking heavy damage. It's something I've wanted to try but haven't had the time. Great talent!

Looking great with the additional touches! You can get tiny stencils for the Imp logo from eBay, so just do a quick search. I normally go for white, but black is good too.

What colour did you use for the rust?

16 hours ago, Vykes said:

You've got a pair of right good looking destroyers there, mate Honestly, it depends how subtle you want them or not.

I'll add a comparison to one VSD that I'm working up right now.

For the record, I over dramatize a few aspects and fully intend shading the grey back up a bit and the white down But in generally, it's not that different at all. The key to it is exactly what others have said: the markings and the light.

Now, you can add some focal points for 'long distance viewing' IE more dramatic effect, by picking out further high points and adding some lighter grey as a form of edge highlighting. The main points being here.

But in truth, the big point is markings. Now, I've done black, red, and white (okay, light grey) and I find the white work nicely but the red and deep grey are pleasant too. Now, you don't need to do markings but you can, and with a bit of masking tape, you can do it with either a spray can, or some brush work (as long as you make sure to flatten and stick the edges of the tape so nothing bleeds!)

The other recommendation is, of course, the lights. And this may be where you can easily pick out your flagship from the other two. Perhaps you like red/yellow lights! Or do you want white/blue? You can take a colour like pure white or bright yellow, and thin it juuuust a tough. From there, use a fine brush to 'dot' some of the superstructure on the front of the ship. Be careful, be patient, it can take a very long time. After that, add a light wash (ink/candy coat) of red or blue to the previous colours. It tones them down and adds a simple glow effect without too much hassle. If you're really comfortable with your brush control, redot some of the larger structures to add stronger lights. Then you tend to get effects like these.

Sorry to post a slight thread-jack... but Vykes, how do you figure out where to put the highlights? Do you use a lamp? 90 degrees? 60 degrees?

My edge highlights always come out too subtle to make a difference or too strong- but I suspect my too strong is really because I'm not putting them in the right places.

28 minutes ago, Dedmanzhand said:

Looking great with the additional touches! You can get tiny stencils for the Imp logo from eBay, so just do a quick search. I normally go for white, but black is good too.

What colour did you use for the rust?

Citedel xv 88

It's mostly instinctive and trial and error, Dur, I wish I had more for ya than that, mate. I just recall that light settles on high points and edges where the facings would change, so while a lamp would tell you were to place the general highlight vs. shading in zenithal highlights, when it comes to doing the edging, it's just going along the top most edges at the extreme points to exaggerate the superstructure.

Does look good, Zach Keep it up, eh? And yeah... ISD's are fun. Gonna go do one tonight.

You have my serious envy right now....

here's the fleet

Those are phenomenal. Great work.

Oooh I really like that red glow VSD, verra nahce.

Turned out great! Inbox me if you want a link to some Imp logo stencils to really finish them off.

Could you pls send a link for some imperial logo stencils. Thx ?

been working on an abstract colored mc80, just finished putting in the lights but was wondering if a different colored glow would conflict too much with the other colors. thoughts ?